Precious Metals

Used in manufacturing for many decades, the industrial metals are recent additions to the jewelry market. The popularity of stainless steel, titanium and tungsten carbide continues to grow as jewelers and consumers come to appreciate the strength, permanence and modern look of these metals. The jewelry industry labels these materials...

Another white metal, platinum, has a short history in jewelry. Brought to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors, its chemical properties made it difficult to work until the 19th Century, when it began to be used in jewelry. Platinum only gained recognition as a monetary metal in the 1980s, but has...

The most plentiful of precious metals, silver, is also the most widely used. It was the money standard until the 19th Century in most countries, and almost every 21st Century home has some silver jewelry, silver-plated candlesticks, photographic film, silver coin, etc. Silver must be alloyed for hardness; the best-known...

Gold has a magic all its own; rare is the person who does not react when hearing that word. Since man’s earliest records, gold has been the ultimate mark of wealth and remains the hallmark jewelry metal.
Pure gold is a very soft and pliable metal. The extreme malleability, ductility, and...

“Precious” metals are gold, silver or any of what are now called the PGM or “platinum group metals” (platinum, iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium and osmium); all others are “base” or ”industrial” metals. “Precious” refers only to their use in jewelry; many “base” metals are extremely valuable to industry. For example,...